Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The Colonial Origins of Korean Enterprise
  • Cited by 23
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
October 2009
Print publication year:
1990
Online ISBN:
9780511528101
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511528101
Subjects:
Area Studies, Asian Studies, East Asian Government, Politics and Policy, Politics and International Relations, Comparative Politics
Information

Book description

South Korean conglomerates, or 'chaebol,' such as Hyundai and Samsung, play a far more important role in the Korean economy than do comparable large firms in the US and Japanese economies. Despite the importance of the chaebol to the rapid postwar development of the Korean economy, little has been written about their origins during the Japanese occupation. Through case studies of local ownership in major financial, commercial, and industrial ventures, this book provides a detailed picture of indigenous capitalism during Japanese colonization. Drawing on Japanese government sources, Korean biographies and diaries, interviews and US intelligence material, the author gives a compelling account of key personalities in the Korean business elite and of the personal dilemmas of balancing nationalism against success under dependent, colonial conditions. The author concludes that dependent rather than comprador capitalism characterized leading Korean businesses through 1945. Patterns of concentration within family enterprises, close ties with the colonial state, and mutual support among a Korean inner circle of business leaders constitute a legacy of the colonial period important to the subsequent development of Korean conglomerates.

Reviews

"...McNamara makes the case that Korea's post-1965 economic success and its politial economy is inexplicable without understanding the colonial legacy. This argument is a corrective to the existing literature on colonialism in Korea, and his case studies have much to contribute to the study of colonial history." Meredith Woo-Cumings, Journal of Asian and African Studies

"This well-written study examines the experience of capitalism in the Republic of Korea during the years of Japan's colonial rule.... This study is a useful addition to growing literature that attempts to analyze factors contributing to strong economic growth in South Korea during the last two decades." J. S. Uppal, SUNY at Albany, in Choice

"Dennis McNamara's book is a welcome addition to the history of countries that have had to industrialize without even their leading enterprises benefitting from the competitive asset of pioneering products and processes." Alice H. Amsden, Business History Review

"...a well-organized account of the constraints the Japanese placed on Korean entrepreneurs...." Kenneth M. Wells, Journal of Asian History

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.